Method of repairing siphons



March 5,1929. J. L. NICHQLSQN 1,104,145

METHOD OF REPAIRING SIPHONS- Filed nec. 5. 1924 Patented Mar. 5, 1.929.

UNITED STATES: PATENT oFFicE.

JOHN L. NICHOLSON, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS', ASSIGNOR IO LOCOMOTIVE IREBOX.COM.'-

PANY, OFCHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

METHOD or REPATBING Siri-1011s.

Application led December 5, 1924,.'l Serial No. 754,029.

This invention relates to improvements in methods of repairing siphonsand consists of` the matters hereinafter described and more particularlypointed out in the appended claims. l

The term Siphon as herein used designates a flat, hollow substantiallytriangular structure or element particularly adapted for use inlocomotive boilers for increasing the Water circulation and .steamingefficiency thereof. Such an element or thermic siphon is fully shown anddescribed in my prior patent No. 1,337 ,720 of April 20, 1920, and saidelement is located in the firebox of the boiler.

" It generallyincludes atubular bottom portion which terminates in atubular eXtension or neck which is connected to the inner4 throat sheetand, has a flat hollow body with an elongated discharge mouth, which,opens through the crown sheet of the firebox. Being arranged in theiireboX, as ust mentioned, said tubular neck andadjacent body parts ofthe Siphon which, by reason of being located substantially close to thefire bed on the grate bars, are subjected to the impingement orbombardment of the products of combustion as they pass from the fire bedto the boiler fiues. This action of the products of combustion producesa real mechanical wear upon' said parts which being assisted by thecontinuous expansion and contraction under temperature changes, reducesthe life of 'this portion o f the siplion below that of the main bodypartthereof.

vIl() out By reason of their peculiar construction, said siphons are notonly diiicult to make, but due to the care in which they must beinstalled, they cost considerable. Heretofore such a` worm siphonpresented quite a problem. The major portion thereof `is stillserviceable, but the remaining portion is worn yto that degree wheresafety demands itsv repair or the replacement of the entire siphon by anew siphon.\ The replacing of i' i a siphon not only requires a greatdeal of time and labor to remove the worn siplion but also requires timeand labor to reasseinble and reweld the new one in place, thus causing aloss of service in said locomotive.-

My present invention relates toa methodl of repairing such wornsiphons,I which method Vmay be readily and economically carried ne ofthe objects of the present invention is to provide a simple andefficient method service delay of the locomotive to a minimum.,

Other objects of theinvention as well as the many advantages thereofwill more fully appear as I proceed' with my specification.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a viewin side elevation of a siphon element showing the sameas it appears relative to the throatslieet and crown sheet of thefirebox of aplocomotive boiler in which is installed.l

Fig. 2 is a view in side elevation on an enlarged scale ofthesiphoiielement after having been repaired by means of my improvedmethod.

Fig. 3 isa perspective view of my improved half-Siphon or repair elementas it appears ready for attachment to a siphon body, after the worn parthas been removed.

l Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view as taken oii'the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.i

Fig. 5` is a another detail sectional view as taken on the line 5-*5 ofFig. 2 and shows the relation of the side walls of the repair 4elementto the sidewalls of the Siphon body.

Fig.v6 is a horizontal section on an enlarged scale as taken on the line6--6 of Fig. 2 and shows. the position of a reinforcing liner at the)oint between the siphon body and repair. element 'at the front end ofthe siphon.

Referring now in detail to that embodiment ofthe invention illustratedin the drawings, l indicates the crown -sheet of a locomotive rebox, 2the inner front throat sheet and 3 1 dicates as a whole a Siphon orwater steamin and circulating' element installed in the rebox andsecured in said crown sheet and front throat sheet, as will soon appear.As described in my patent hereinbefore referred to, said Siphon orelement in- -cludes an upwardly and rearwardly inclined tubular bottomor neck portion 14, and a progressively upwardly enlarging and generallyytriangularilat hollow body port-ion 5. The

phragm plate 7 securedin a. suitable opening provided therefor in saidthroat plate. The

neck projects into-the diaphragm plate and is preferably welded therein,said plate accommodating t-he expansion and contraction of said elementunder temperature changes. The hollow body portion 5 comprises parallelside walls 8 and 8? which are spaced apart a distance less than thatapproximating the diameter of the tubular or bulged portion t whichgradually is reduced in width as it approaches the top end of said sidewalls 8-8. Said walls terminate in an outwardly extending flange 9 whichis welded into an opening in the crown sheet 1 provided therefor. Thefront end of the body 5 is defined by a transversely rounded wall 10which is inclined forwardly and upwardly from the neck 6 asshown and towhich it is connected by a curved elbow part 11. Such an element isformed by a single piece of heavy sheet metal folded upon itself withthe median line of the tubular part 4 as the line of the fold, the twoparts of the `element meeting and being welded in a line defining themiddle portion of the front walLlO, as shown at 12 in Fig. 4. The topend of the element, inside the flange 9 provides a discharge mouth whichopens through the crown sheet to discharge water and steam into theboiler space above the saine. The side walls of the siphon element aresuitablystay-bolted to withstand both internal and external pressuresand the said stay-bolts 13 are so disposed as to eX- tend in rowsparallel with lines defining the outlines of the element asa whole. Theneck portion 6 is also stay-bolted as at 14.

In service the lower portion and bottom end of the body 5 together withthe neck 6 is subjected to the greatest wear for the reasons beforestated. Although the siphons are in active use for a long period oftime, before this wear is manifest, inspections thereof from time totime will determine when said element should be repaired. Vhen saidrepair is to be made the worn part of the siphon or element is removedby cutting the same away as for instance with a torch, along the dottedlines 15 and 16 as shown in Fig. 1, so that one side wall is of agreater vertical height than the other, one line of cutting (15) beingarranged in a plane above and the other line of cutting (16) beingarranged in a plane below that of a predetermined row of stay-bolts as,for instance. the

- row indicated b v the number 13a. Said linesI of Cutting pass throughthe tubular portion l in a common plane at a right angle to said portionas indicated at 17. i After said siphon has been eut away as describedthe stay-bolts 13 are removed leaving a corresponding row of stay-boltholes in the bottom of the longer side wall 8. The neck 6 is thenremoved from `its engagement in the diaphragm 7 or said diaphragm may beremoved from the throat sheet, either way as desired, depending, ofcourse, upon the condition of the diaphragm.

To take the place of that worn portion of the Siphon which has beenremoved, as above described, I provide a renewal or repair boot orsection which is substantially a duplicate of the removed part of thesiphon except that I prefer to make the neck thereof a trifle longer sothat it may be trimmed to fit the old or new diaphragm plate 7,whichever the case may be. In Fig. 3 I have shown a perspective view ofsaid repair boot or section before it has been installed in place. Saidboot or. section comprises a tubular portion 4 which terminates at oneend in a tubular lneck 6a. Said tubular portion has parallel ends 8d ofthe side walls 8b and 8 of the boot are left spaced apart for a distanceto leave an opening 8e, the purpose of which will ap pear later, butbelow said opening said sideu walls meet in an elbow curve 11a and arewelded together to provide a seam 18 which eX- tends to the end of theneck 6a. Such an element when positioned in place with respect .to thecutaway portion of the Siphon 3 will be made to fit nicely therein butbefore applying the same thereto, I find it desirable to apply a liner19 to the bottom end of the end wall 10, as shown in dotted lines inFig. 2. In applying this liner I chip out a part of the old weld or seamand after inserting the liner and securing the same therein as by thescrew plugs 20-20 I reweld said seam. The bottom end of this .liner isleft to project .below the bottom end of the end wall 10 for a pur poseto appear later.

lVhen the repair boot or element and the Siphon body are properlyfitted, they may be jacked up or otherwise temporarily held together andthe abutting edges of the side walls 8-80 and 81-8" are welded togetheras indicated as at 21-22 (see Figs. 2 and 5).

After this has been done, the parts 9 8 of the walls SQL-8 of the repairhooi are worked around or are folded' in toward each other from the row13aL so that said row of new stay-bolts will be located in a planebetween that of the lines of welding 21-92 as liest shown in Fig. 5. Theneck 6a of the boot is l am able to provide a stronger connection orbond between them because the lines of welding 21-22 instead of being inthe same plane,

' my new method, the operations may be carried on inside the firebox andthe worn Siphon part p may be removed through the fire door opening anda new one introducedinto the firebox through said door. Thus, no boilervstay-bolts are unnecessarily disturbed.

llVhile in describing my invention,'l have` referred to certain detailsof construction, steps in operation and the like, the same iS to betaken as by way of illustration only and therefore l do not wish tolimit myself thereto except as may be pointed out in the appendedclaims.

lt claim as my invention:

1. riihe method of repairing a water steaming and circulating element ofa boiler which element has parallel Side walls Stay-bolted together,Said method consisting ,inl removing the worn portion of said elementalong lines arranged in different planes on opposite side of saidelement, in providing-a. new part corresponding to Said removed partandv fitting' 'the same tothe remainder oi Said element and thereafterwelding the iitted parts together.

2. The method of repairing a water steaming and circulating element of aboiler which c element has parallel side walls stay-bolted together,said method consisting in removing the worn portion of said elementalong' lines arranged in dii'erent planes on opposite side of saidelement, in providing a new part having Side Walls and fitting said sidewalls 'to the side Walls of the remainder of the elethe worn of saidelement, in providing a new part corresponding to said removed part andfitting the same to the remainder. of said element, in welding theabutting edges ofsaid new part and remainder together and in thenproviding a row of stay-bolts which connect thesides oit' said new partand the sides' of said remainder together in a plane between said linesof welding.

4. The method of repairing a water steaming and circulating element in alocomotive connected to the inner throat sheet of the {ireboX, whichmethod consists in cutting away the worn part of said element alonglines arranged in diiierent planes on opposite side walls of the elementand in removing the neck from said throat sheet, in providing a new partto take the place of the removed part and which new part has side wallswhich are iitted to the side walls of the remainder anda neck, in thenwelding said fitted edges of the side wall together in abutting relationand then welding the neck of the new part in position with respect tosaid throat sheet.

5. The method of repairing a water steaming and circulating element in alocomotive ireboxA which elementv comprisesl parallel spaced,stay-,bolted side walls connected to the crown sheet of the rebox and atubular `firebox which element comprises parallel" spaced, Stay-boltedside walls connected to the crown sheet of the firebox and a tubularneck neck connected to the inner throat sheet of the fir-ebox, whichmethod consists in cutting away the worn, part of said element alonglines arranged in diiferent planes on opposite side walls of the elementand in removing the neck from said throat sheet, in providing a lnewpart to take the place of the removed part and which new part has sidewalls which are fitted to thefside walls of the remainder and a neck, inthen welding Said fitted edges of the side walls together in abuttingrelation and in then providing a row of stay-bolts between one side wallof the new part and one side wall of the remainder which.

`the firebox, a rounded end wall and a tubular bottom portion which'terminates in a neck connected to the inner throat sheet of thefirebox, which method consists in cutting away part of said elementsalonga line extending through the tubular portion, the side walls andthe rounded end `wall of said element in removing said neck from saidthroat sheet, in securing a liner to the bottom end of the said rearwall so that a part of the liner projects below said bottom end ot saidwall, in providing a new part to take the place oi the removed part andin fitting the edges thereof to the edges of said re-` mainder, inwelding said par-ts together along lines defined bysaid itted edges, inthen securing'a-portion of said new part to the projecting bottom end ofthe liner and then securing the neck oi' said new part in place withrespect to said throat plate.

7. The method of repairing a water steaming and Circulating element in alocomotive livebox, which element has parallel staybolted side wallsconnected to the crown sheet of the tirebox, a rounded end'wall and atubular bottom portion which terminates Vin a neck connected to theinner throat sheet of the lirebox, which method consists in cutting awaythe worn part of said elements along a line extending through thetubular portion, the side walls and the rounded end wall of said elementin removing said neck from said throat sheet, in securing a liner to thebottom end of the said rear wall so thata part of the liner projectsbelow said bottom end of said wall, in providing a new part to take theplace ot the removed part and in tting the edges thereof to the edges ofsaid remainder, in welding said parts together along lines dened by saidfitted edges, in folding por! tionsof said new part over upon andsecuring them to said projecting end of the liner and in then securingthe neck of said new part in place with respect to said throat plate.

8. An element of the kinddescribed comprising a body portion having sidewalls and a second portion including a neck and having side walls, theedges of which are formed to fit the contour of theedges of the sidewalls of said body portion, said edges being arranged parallel butindifferent planes, a line of weld connecting said edges together and aline of stay-bolts arranged parallel with but intermediate the lines ofwelding and con-I necting the side wall of the body portion with anopposite side wall of said second portion.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this lst day ofDecember, 1924.

JOHN L. NICHOLSON.

